I sit up in bed and yawn, looking around and seeing that Nero isn't on the bed anymore. He probably went to get a drink so I get up and go to find him. I walk down the stairs into the kitchen to see Nero pushing a chair towards the counter. He stood up and reached for the cupboard to grab a cup. I quickly pick him up and set him down, saying "You know you can't do that. You're supposed to get me for that."
"But I do it all the time at home," Nero said and tried to get on the chair again. I quickly grab a dark blue cup and hand it to Nero. He smiled and got off the chair, going over to the fridge and grabbing the grape juice.

I look at the clock on the microwave, 5:25.
"You need to get back to bed." I say and try to pick up Nero, but he just backs away and says "I want to watch King of The Hill. I do it every morning."
"You can't watch that."
"But it's rated PG, not PG13, not M, not R, it's PG," Nero said. I sigh and say "Fine. But you have to head right back to bed afterward." Nero smiled and said "Okay!" and ran into the living room. As soon as he leaves I realize I'm hungry. There's still the food that Missy brought so I'm gonna have some of that.

After thirty minutes I throw away the bones to the chicken wings and Nero comes in and puts his glass in the sink.
"Okay, back to bed," I say and pick him up. I carry him back to my room and tuck him in bed.
"I'm going to take a shower then we're leaving, I need to get you some new clothes and then we have to be somewhere afterwards. Try and get some sleep till I'm done." Nero frowned 'cause he doesn't want to sleep alone but he laid down and curled into a ball. I sigh lightly and think about how I can't wait to get Nero into my custody. It's gonna take a long time for me to reverse all the damage Vergil has caused.

~

I step out of the bathroom and walk to my room while still towel drying my hair. As soon as I enter the room Nero stirs and sits up. He yawns and looks at me through tired eyes. I can tell he didn't get good sleep, probably because I wasn't with him. I set the towel down and say "Okay, now you need to get dressed." Nero rubbed his eyes but didn't move. I walk over and pick him up and he clings to me and immediately falls asleep. I sigh and rub his back, deciding to let him sleep for a bit longer. I sit down on my bed and place Nero on my lap so he can still sleep and I can watch T.V. I grab the remote and turn on the T.V. and immediately Bar Rescue is playing.

After the first episode, I look at my clock and see it's now 6:47. I pick up Nero and carry him to his room. We have to get going soon but he's still sleeping and looks so tired so I quickly dress him and turned everything in the house off. I carry him outside and put him in the passenger seat of my car. I get in the driver's seat and start driving, heading to Walmart. Nero really needs new clothes, he can't wear his old clothes, yeah he still fits into them but still, he deserves new clothes, not 4 years old clothes.

I drive straight ahead but someone ignored the stop sign and slammed right into us, hitting the passenger sighed. Nero was startled awake and started screaming, except it wasn't in fear, it was in pain. I look over at him but my car was tipped on its side and I smack my head against the window, blacking out.

Everything is black, everything is dull, it all feels dull. Then I hear it, faint screaming. It's getting louder and louder until my eyes shoot open and I sit up, looking around at my surroundings. I'm in a hospital room. There is a curtain separating me from the other side. Oh god, I hope Nero is on the other side and he is okay. I rip back the curtain feel my heart sink when the bed next to me is empty. Suddenly I hear screaming, what they are screaming makes me feel a little better, it's Nero and he's screaming for me. Nero is okay.

I jump out of bed and sprint out of my room, trying to distinguish where the screaming is coming from but it sounds like it's coming from all around.
"Nero!" I shout,
"Dante!" It came from the left. I sprint down the hall and look around, the screaming is louder and now I know where it's coming from. I run all the way to the end of the hall and into the last room on the left. Nero is screaming and crying while trying to get off his bed while nurses try to restrain him, I notice they all have bite marks on them.

I quickly run over and roughly shove all three nurses out of the way while screaming "Get away from him!" I pick up my nephew and say "It's okay, I'm right here, I'm right here, you're okay." I look at him and see his right arm is in a cast and his face is covered with tiny cuts, probably from when the window broke and glass was flying everywhere. I rub his back and say "It's okay, it's okay, I promise to get you out of here." I look at the nurses and say "Did either of you give him something for the pain?"
"We couldn't because he kept thrashing."
"I've got him still now! Give him something now!" I scream at them. A nurse pulls me so I'm on the bed and Nero is on my lap. What I see them grab from a drawer makes me groan, this is going to be hell.

I gently bounced Nero and said "Nero, they're gonna give you an IV, it's a little needle that will disperse medicine throughout your body, it will take the pain away, I promise." Nero shook his head and kept crying.
"Listen, you know I won't let them do anything bad to you, I won't let them hurt you, I promise. They are just going to give you something to help with the pain. As soon as this is all done with we can go home, I promise." I say gently while rubbing his back. Nero whimpered and shakily extended his left arm and the nurses quickly got the IV in him.

~

After 30 minutes the nurse removed the IV and held and taped down gauze. She said she'll get the release papers and a bottle of medicine that will help with the pain. I looked at the thing of pudding one of the nurses brought in 10 minutes ago and said: "Do you want to try and eat the pudding now?" Nero nodded slowly and reached for it but immediately retracted his arm and whimpered. I smiled lightly and said, "It's okay, I'll feed you, don't worry." I grab the pudding and spoon and remove the lid. I get a small spoonful of the pale white stuff and feed it to Nero, who smiled as soon as he tasted it.

As soon as Nero finished the pudding, I threw the container and spoon away and Vergil ran into the room. He ran over and scooped Nero up in his arms, cradling him and saying "Oh, my baby, I'm so glad you're okay. Don't worry, we're going home." Nero looked happy for a second like he's finally happy to get his father's attention. He looked so happy. But then he started to squirm and what he said next surprised both Vergil and I.
"I want to stay with Dante."